Morose, brooding episodes of The X-Files are common, and that feature is part of the show's greatness; but the tone of this one when combined with how poorly paced and excruciatingly slow it is, make it simply boring. It appears to be trying to do something deep and momentous, but is smaller than the sum of its parts and achieves nothing interesting by way of plot or character development. The plot itself, in fact, makes no sense. There is no internal logic to what unfolds and how the episode concludes. That isn't because of the usual X-Files obliqueness or the elliptical nature of its story. It's just a badly written script, poorly directed. The only interesting thing is the lighting, but even that is done with such a lack of subtlety that it too becomes a part of how annoying this episode is. Having been through the series from beginning to end a number of times, when I rewatch it nowadays this is one of two or three episodes I skip. One of the few saving graces of the episode is that it contains one of the most unexpectedly hilarious lines of any episode, which you will recognize when you hear it if you've never seen this episode before.
Review of 3
